Share transfer between two Chinese news veterans questioned over A$990,000 ‘loan’ to failed business

SHARES IN HOMING HOLDINGS

According to the defendants, Mr. Ren held a 35 percent stake in Homing Holdings, Ms. Lee a 30 percent stake and Mr. Chua a 35 percent stake.

Ms. Lee and Mr. Chua claim that Mr. Chua had no desire to be involved in the day-to-day management of the business and had no involvement or interest in it, but Mr. Ren allegedly insisted that Mr. Chua receive a 35 percent rate.

These shares ultimately ended up in the possession of Ms. Lee, who was also a director of the subsidiaries, the defendants allege.

Earlier this week, Mr Chua and Ms Lee gave evidence about an agreement they signed in February 2018 to transfer Mr Chua’s stake in Homing Holdings to Ms Lee, the Straits Times reported.

Ms Lee reportedly testified that Mr Chua suggested this because he was starting a new job at Mediacorp and that he was not involved in the management of Homing Holdings after the share transfer.

Mr. Ren questions the authenticity of the share transfer.

On Friday, Mr. Chua was called to the stand to testify regarding the arrangement that Mr. Liow Beng Hui, a manager at one of Homing Holdings’ subsidiaries, would witness the signing of the share transfer agreement.

Chua said it was Ms Lee who arranged for Mr Liow to witness the signing of the contract.

Ms Jasmin Kang, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, asked Mr Chua to confirm that the share transfer agreement was never recorded in Homing Holdings’ records.

Mr Chua said he was not sure about this as he was not involved in the company’s affairs.

Mr Liow then took the stand and said he witnessed the signing of the share transfer agreement between Mr Chua and Ms Lee on the empty terrace of his apartment block in February 2018.

He said Ms Lee had called him a few days earlier and asked if he would be there to witness the signing of the share transfer agreement. She explained the content of the contract in detail on the day it was signed.

Mr. Liow also testified that he knew Mr. Chua and Ms. Lee from when all three were colleagues at a previous employer and that he had worked closely with them on some projects.

Mr. Chua joined Mediacorp in 2018, but previously worked at SPH, where he served, among other roles, as editor-in-chief of the Chinese media group.

He is currently the director and editor-in-chief of China news and current affairs at Mediacorp, and also heads the Youth Editorial initiative.

Mediacorp is also the parent company of CNA.

Ms. Lee is a news veteran who spent 18 years at SPH before leaving in May 2017, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Mr Liow said that Ms Lee approached him about joining the Homing Holdings subsidiary and that his team worked closely with her as she managed the company’s day-to-day operations as director.

On Mr Chua’s role at the company, Liow said: “I don’t think he’s involved, I rarely see him.”

A Goldciti manager also testified about the work Goldciti did after he was allegedly retained by Homing Holdings to advise on restructuring options.

Homing Holdings allegedly agreed to pay Goldciti A$80,000, of which A$40,000 was paid. According to the plaintiffs, the liquidators could not find evidence of any contract with Goldciti or of work performed by Goldciti.

Mr Tan Hui Meng testified that Goldciti’s hourly rate was S$800 and the project commissioned by Homing Holdings was estimated at 100 hours of work.

He said Goldciti’s work involves verifying figures in Homing Holdings’ financial statements by tracing the general ledger to obtain source documents such as invoices, meetings with potential investors and producing a report.

He disagreed with Ms Kang’s claims that the 17-page report was fabricated to legitimize an A$80,000 payment from Homing Holdings and that it was intended to help him and Ms Lee siphon funds from the company.

Tan also disagreed that the report was not prepared in November 2020 but was backdated to give the impression of services being provided, and that he lacked the expertise to prepare a restructuring report for a company facing liquidation.

The trial will resume on January 21.